Thank you @joannathangiah for making this. This is such an important topic to touch base on.

I know many people who are eating disorder survivors but weren’t taken seriously because of how they appeared on the external. It’s so discouraging to have people not take your issues seriously. The effects of eating disorders are extremely serious. Some people don’t know the effects it has on a person’s mental state as well as physical.

Just because a person isn’t stick thin or obese doesn’t mean they didn’t or don’t have a eating disorder. Sometimes eating disorders can go unseen even by the person it is affecting. I know for myself I would tell myself I didn’t have an eating disorder because I was “fat” and that only thin people could have an eating disorder. I was truly ignorant and didn’t want to believe that I was doing harm to my body, because there is no light at the end of the tunnel if you stay in the cycle and let your disorder control you.

I won’t say I’m 100% because I’m still finding my balance. For example when I first started my recovery, I worked out at the gym during the beginning for a year and a half and I think that really in a way got me off track because I started weighing myself six days out of the week and pushing myself to the extreme. I was becoming so consumed and felt that I was back where I started but now I was pushing myself with working out and sometimes would skip a meal. Working out is great when done properly, when done HEALTHY, however, not giving your body proper nutrients isn’t healthy.

Now I’m finding a balance between healthy eating habits and not feeling guilty every meal, but like, I still love my tacos y tortas. I’m a gordita and that’s okay but working out and being a gordita is okay too.

Ossi is a fat body positive babe, brown and proud Xicana from the Central Valley.
She guest posts for The Strange is Beautiful.
Follow her Instagram here.